Please wait a minute...
Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2015, Vol. 14 Issue (12): 2456-2466    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(15)61228-X
Special Focus: Best Soil Management from Long-Term Field Experiments for Sustainable Agriculture Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Review grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency in rice production regions in China
 CHE Sheng-guo, ZHAO Bing-qiang, LI Yan-ting, YUAN Liang, LI Wei, LIN Zhi-an, HU Shu-wen, SHEN Bing
1、Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer, Ministry of Agriculture/Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning,
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P.R.China
2、College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R.China
3、China Blue Chemical Ltd., Beijing 100029, P.R.China
Download:  PDF in ScienceDirect  
Export:  BibTeX | EndNote (RIS)      
摘要  As one of the staple food crops, rice (Oryza sativa L.) is widely cultivated across China, which plays a critical role in guaranteeing national food security. Most previous studies on grain yield or/and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of rice in China often involved site-specific field experiments, or small regions with insufficient data, which limited the representation for the current rice production regions. In this study, a database covering a wide range of climate conditions, soil types and field managements across China, was developed to estimate rice grain yield and NUE in various rice production regions in China and to evaluate the relationships between N rates and grain yield, NUE. According to the database for rice, the values of grain yield, plant N accumulation, N harvest index (HIN), indigenous N supply (INS), internal N efficiency (IEN), reciprocal internal N efficiency (RIEN), agronomic N use efficiency (AEN), partial N factor productivity (PEPN), physiological N efficiency (PEN), and recover efficiency of applied N (REN) averaged 7.69 t ha–1, 152 kg ha–1, 0.64 kg kg–1, 94.1 kg kg–1, 53.9 kg kg–1, 1.98 kg kg–1, 12.6 kg kg–1, 48.6 kg kg–1, 33.8 kg kg–1, and 39.3%, respectively. However, the corresponding values all varied tremendously with large variation. Rice planting regions and N rates had significant influence on grain yield, N uptake and NUE values. Considering all observations, N rates of 200 to 250 kg ha–1 commonly achieved higher rice grain yield compared to less than 200 kg N ha–1 and more than 250 kg N ha–1 at most rice planting regions. At N rates of 200 to 250 kg ha–1, significant positive linear relationships were observed between rice grain yield and AEN, PEN, REN, IEN, and PFPN, and 46.49, 24.64, 7.94, 17.84, and 88.24% of the variation in AEN, PEN, REN, IEN, and PFPN could be explained by grain yield, respectively. In conclusion, in a reasonable range of N application, an increase in grain yield can be achieved accompanying by an acceptable NUE.

Abstract  As one of the staple food crops, rice (Oryza sativa L.) is widely cultivated across China, which plays a critical role in guaranteeing national food security. Most previous studies on grain yield or/and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of rice in China often involved site-specific field experiments, or small regions with insufficient data, which limited the representation for the current rice production regions. In this study, a database covering a wide range of climate conditions, soil types and field managements across China, was developed to estimate rice grain yield and NUE in various rice production regions in China and to evaluate the relationships between N rates and grain yield, NUE. According to the database for rice, the values of grain yield, plant N accumulation, N harvest index (HIN), indigenous N supply (INS), internal N efficiency (IEN), reciprocal internal N efficiency (RIEN), agronomic N use efficiency (AEN), partial N factor productivity (PEPN), physiological N efficiency (PEN), and recover efficiency of applied N (REN) averaged 7.69 t ha–1, 152 kg ha–1, 0.64 kg kg–1, 94.1 kg kg–1, 53.9 kg kg–1, 1.98 kg kg–1, 12.6 kg kg–1, 48.6 kg kg–1, 33.8 kg kg–1, and 39.3%, respectively. However, the corresponding values all varied tremendously with large variation. Rice planting regions and N rates had significant influence on grain yield, N uptake and NUE values. Considering all observations, N rates of 200 to 250 kg ha–1 commonly achieved higher rice grain yield compared to less than 200 kg N ha–1 and more than 250 kg N ha–1 at most rice planting regions. At N rates of 200 to 250 kg ha–1, significant positive linear relationships were observed between rice grain yield and AEN, PEN, REN, IEN, and PFPN, and 46.49, 24.64, 7.94, 17.84, and 88.24% of the variation in AEN, PEN, REN, IEN, and PFPN could be explained by grain yield, respectively. In conclusion, in a reasonable range of N application, an increase in grain yield can be achieved accompanying by an acceptable NUE.
Keywords:  rice       grain yield       nitrogen uptake       nitrogen use efficiency       China  
Received: 20 August 2015   Accepted:
Fund: 

This research was supported by the Key Technologies R&D Program of China during the 12th Fvie-Year Plan period (2011BAD11B05).

Corresponding Authors:  ZHAO Bing-qiang, Tel/Fax: +86-10-82108664,E-mail: zhaobingqiang@caas.cn   
About author:  CHE Sheng-guo, E-mail: cheshengguo@caas.cn;

Cite this article: 

CHE Sheng-guo, ZHAO Bing-qiang, LI Yan-ting, YUAN Liang, LI Wei, LIN Zhi-an, HU Shu-wen, SHEN Bing. 2015. Review grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency in rice production regions in China. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 14(12): 2456-2466.

Andrews M, Lea P J. 2013. Our nitrogen ‘footprint’: The needfor increased crop nitrogen use efficiency. Annals of AppliedBiology, 163, 165-169

Cassman K G, Dobermann A, Sta Cruz P C. 1996. Soil organicmatter and the indigenous nitrogen supply of intensiveirrigated rice systems in the tropics. Plant and Soil, 182,267-278

Cheng S H, Zhuang J Y, Fan Y Y, Du J H, Cao L Y. 2007.Progress in research and development on hybrid rice:A super-domesticate in China. Annals of Botany, 100,959-966

National Bureau of Statistics. 2013. China Agriculture Yearbook.China Agriculture Press, Beijing. (in Chinese)

Cui Z L, Zhang F S, Dou Z X, Miao Y X, Sun Q P, Chen X P, LiJ L, Ye Y L, Yang Z P, Zhang Q, Liu C S, Huang S M. 2009.Regional evaluation of critical nitrogen concentrations inwinter wheat production of the North China Plain. AgronomyJournal, 101, 159-166

Dai X Q, Zhang H Y, Spiertz J H J, Yu J, Xie G H, Bouman B AM. 2009. Crop response of aerobic rice and winter wheat tonitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in a double croppingsystem. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 86, 301-315

Dobermann A R. 2005. Nitrogen use efficiency - State ofthe art. In: Proceedings of the International Workshop onEnhanced-efficiency Fertilizers. International FertilizerIndustry Association, Paris. p. 316.

Dobermann A, Witt C, Abdulrachman S, Gines H, NagarajanR, Son T T, Tan P S, Wang G H, Chien N V, Thoa V T K.2003a. Estimating indigenous nutrient supplies for sitespecificnutrient management in irrigated rice. AgronomyJournal, 95, 924-935

Dobermann A, Witt C, Abdulrachman S, Gines H C, NagarajanR, Son T T, Tan P S, Wang G H, Chien N V, Thoa V T K,Phung C V, Stalin P, Muthukrishnan P, Ravi V, Babu M,Simbahan G C, Adviento M A A. 2003b. Soil fertility andindigenous nutrient supply in irrigated rice domains of Asia.Agronomy Journal, 95, 913-923

Fan M, Lu S, Jiang R, Liu X, Zhang F. 2009. Triangulartransplanting pattern and split nitrogen fertilizer applicationincrease rice yield and nitrogen fertilizer recovery.Agronomy Journal, 101, 1421.

Food and Agriculture Organization. 2012. FAOSTAT-agriculturedatabase. [2014-10-18]. http://faostat.fao.org

Gao Q, Li C, Feng G, Wang J, Cui Z, Chen X, Zhang F. 2012.Understanding yield response to nitrogen to achieve highyield and high nitrogen use efficiency in rainfed corn.Agronomy Journal, 104, 165-168

Haefele S M, Wopereis M C S, Ndiaye M K, BarroS, EouldIsselmou M. 2003. Internal nutrient efficiencies, fertilizerrecovery rates and indigenous nutrient supply of irrigatedlowland rice in Sahelian West Africa. Field Crops Research,80, 19-32

Hossain M F, White S K, Elahi S F, Sultana N, Choudhury M H K, Alam Q K, RotherJ A, Gaunt J L. 2005. The efficiencyof nitrogen fertiliser for rice in Bangladeshi farmers’ fields.Field Crops Research, 93, 94-107

Ladha J K, Pathak H, Krupnik T J, Six J, van Kessel C.2005. Efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen in cereal production:Retrospects and prospects. Advances in Agronomy, 87,85-156

Lea P J, Azevedo R A. 2006. Nitrogen use efficiency. 1. Uptakeof nitrogen from the soil. Annals of Applied Biology, 149,243-247

Lemaire G, Gastal F. 1997. N uptake and distribution in plantcanopies. In: Lemaire G, ed., Diagnosis of the NitrogenStatus in Crops, Springer-Verlag, Berlin. pp. 3-43

Li B, Li J. 1989. Fertilizer efficiency and measures to improvefertilizer efficiency in China. Acta Pedologica Sinica, 26,273-279 (in Chinese)

Li S, He P, Jin J. 2013. Nitrogen use efficiency in grainproduction and the estimated nitrogen input/output balancein China agriculture. Journal of the Science of Food andAgriculture, 93, 1191-1197

Li G H, Xue L H, Gu W, Yang C D, Wang S H, Ling Q H, Qin X,Ding Y F. 2009. Comparison of yield components and planttype characteristics of high-yield rice between Taoyuan, a‘special eco-site’ and Nanjing, China. Field Crops Research,112, 214-221

Novoa R, Loomis R S. 1981. Nitrogen and plant production.Plant and Soil, 58, 177-204

National Population Development Strategy Research Group.2007. Report on National Population Development Strategy.China Population Press, China. (in Chinese)

Ohnishi M, Horie T, Homma K, Supapoj N, Takano H,Yamamoto S. 1999. Nitrogen management and cultivareffects on rice yield and nitrogen use efficiency in NortheastThailand. Field Crops Research, 64, 109-120

Pan S G, Huang S Q, Zhai J, Wang J P, Cao C G, Cai M L,Zhan M, Tang X R. 2012. Effects of N management on yieldand N uptake of rice in central China. Journal of IntegrativeAgriculture, 11, 1993-2000

Peng S, Cassman K G. 1998. Upper threshholds of nitrogenuptake rates and associated nitrogen fertilizer efficienciesin irrigated rice. Agronomy Journal, 90, 178-185

Peng S, Buresh R J, Huang J, Yang J, Zou Y, Zhong X, WangG, Zhang F. 2006. Strategies for overcoming low agronomicnitrogen use efficiency in irrigated rice systems in China.Field Crops Research, 96, 37-47

Peng S, Tang Q, Zou Y. 2009. Current status and challenges ofrice production in China. Plant Production Science, 12, 3-8

SAS Institute. 1990. SAS user’s guide: Statistics. SAS Institute,Cary, NC.

Sui B, Feng X, Tian G, Hu X, Shen Q, Guo S. 2013. Optimizingnitrogen supply increases rice yield and nitrogen useefficiency by regulating yield formation factors. Field CropsResearch, 150, 99-107

Tong C L, Hall C A S, Wang H Q. 2003. Land use change inrice, wheat and maize production in China (1961-1998)

Agricultural, Ecosystems & Environment, 95, 523-536

Wang G, Dobermann A, Witt C, Sun Q, Fu R. 2001. Performanceof site-specific nutrient management for irrigated rice inSoutheast China. Agronomy Journal, 93, 869-878

Witt C, Dobermann A, Abdulrachman S, Gines H C, GuanghuoW, Nagarajan R, Satawatananont S, Thuc Son T, Sy TanP, Van Tiem L, Simbahan G, COlk D C. 1999. Internalnutrient efficiencies of irrigated lowland rice in tropical andsubtropical Asia. Field Crops Research, 63, 113-138

Xu X, He P, Pampolino M F, Chuan L, Johnston A M, Qiu S,Zhao S, Zhou W. 2013. Nutrient requirements for maize inChina based on QUEFTS analysis. Field Crops Research,150, 115-125

Yu Y, Huang Y, Zhang W. 2012. Changes in rice yields in Chinasince 1980 associated with cultivar improvement, climateand crop management. Field Crops Research, 136, 65-75

Yue S, Meng Q, Zhao R, Ye Y, Zhang F, Cui Z, Chen X. 2012.Change in nitrogen requirement with increasing grain yieldfor winter wheat. Agronomy Journal, 104, 1687-1693

Zhang F S, Wang J Q, Zhang W F, Cui Z L, Ma W Q, ChenX P, Jiang R F. 2008. Nutrient use efficiencies of majorcereal crops in China and measures for improvement. ActaPedologica Sinica, 45, 915-924 (in Chinese)

Zhang Q, Yang Z, Zhang H, Yi J. 2012. Recovery efficiency andloss of 15N-labelled urea in a rice-soil system in the upperreaches of the Yellow River basin. Agriculture, Ecosystems& Environment, 158, 118-126

Zhao B Q, Li X Y, Li X P, Shi X J, Huang S M, Wang B R, ZhuP, Yang X Y, Liu H, Chen Y, Poulton P, Powlson D, ToddA, Payne R. 2010. Long-term fertilizer experiment networkin China: Crop yields and soil nutrient trends. AgronomyJournal, 102, 216-230

Zhu Z L. 1992. Fertilizer fate and N management in agroecosystem.In: Zhu Z L, Wen Q X, eds., Nitrogen in Soil ofChina. Jiangsu Science and Technology Press, Nanjing.pp. 228-245 (in Chinese)

Zhu Z L, Chen D L. 2002. Nitrogen fertilizer use in China-Contributions to food production, impacts on the environmentand best management strategies. Nutrient Cycling inAgroecosystems, 63, 117-127
[1] Lichao Zhai, Shijia Song, Lihua Zhang, Jinan Huang, Lihua Lv, Zhiqiang Dong, Yongzeng Cui, Mengjing Zheng, Wanbin Hou, Jingting Zhang, Yanrong Yao, Yanhong Cui, Xiuling Jia. Subsoiling before winter wheat alleviates the kernel position effect of densely grown summer maize by delaying post-silking root–shoot senescence[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(9): 3384-3402.
[2] Yang Sun, Yu Liu, Li Zhou, Xinyan Liu, Kun Wang, Xing Chen, Chuanqing Zhang, Yu Chen. Activity of fungicide cyclobutrifluram against Fusarium fujikuroi and mechanism of the pathogen resistance associated with point mutations in FfSdhB, FfSdhC2 and FfSdhD[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(9): 3511-3528.
[3] Yuxin He, Fei Deng, Chi Zhang, Qiuping Li, Xiaofan Huang, Chenyan He, Xiaofeng Ai, Yujie Yuan, Li Wang, Hong Cheng, Tao Wang, Youfeng Tao. Wei Zhou, Xiaolong Lei, Yong Chen, Wanjun Ren. Can a delayed sowing date improve the eating and cooking quality of mechanically transplanted rice in the Sichuan Basin, China?[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(9): 3368-3383.
[4] Yunji Xu, Xuelian Weng, Shupeng Tang, Weiyang Zhang, Kuanyu Zhu, Guanglong Zhu, Hao Zhang, Zhiqin Wang, Jianchang Yang. Untargeted lipidomic analysis of milled rice under different alternate wetting and soil drying irrigation regimes[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(9): 3351-3367.
[5] Hanqiang Lü, Aizhong Yu, Qiang Chai, Feng Wang, Yulong Wang, Pengfei Wang, Yongpan Shang, Xuehui Yang. No-tillage with total green manure incorporation: A better strategy to higher maize yield and nitrogen uptake in arid irrigation areas[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(9): 3403-3417.
[6] Xiaoqing Wang, Wenjiao Shi, Qiangyi Yu, Xiangzheng Deng, Lijun Zuo, Xiaoli Shi, Minglei Wang, Jun Li. Well-facilitated farmland improves nitrogen use efficiency and reduces environmental impacts in the Huang-Huai-Hai Region, China[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 3264-3281.
[7] Jinpeng Li, Siqi Wang, Zhongwei Li, Kaiyi Xing, Xuefeng Tao, Zhimin Wang, Yinghua Zhang, Chunsheng Yao, Jincai Li. Effects of micro-sprinkler irrigation and topsoil compaction on winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency in the Huaibei Plain, China[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 2974-2988.
[8] Siriyaporn Chanapanchai, Wahdan Fitriya, Ida Bagus Made Artadana, Kanyaratt Supaibulwatana. Important role and benefits of Azolla plants in the management of agroecosystem services, biodiversity, and sustainable rice production in Southeast Asia[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(8): 3004-3023.
[9] Weiguang Yang, Bin Zhang, Weicheng Xu, Shiyuan Liu, Yubin Lan, Lei Zhang. Impact of hyperspectral reconstruction techniques on the quantitative inversion of rice physiological parameters: A case study using the MST++ model[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(7): 2540-2557.
[10] Jianan Li, Weidong Li, Wenjie Ou, Waqas Ahmed, Mohsin Mahmood, Ahmed S. M. Elnahal, Haider Sultan, Zhan Xin, Sajid Mehmood. Alleviating vanadium-induced stress on rice growth using phosphorus-loaded biochar[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(7): 2525-2539.
[11] Zhongwei Tian, Yanyu Yin, Bowen Li, Kaitai Zhong, Xiaoxue Liu, Dong Jiang, Weixing Cao, Tingbo Dai. Optimizing planting density and nitrogen application to mitigate yield loss and improve grain quality of late-sown wheat under rice–wheat rotation[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(7): 2558-2574.
[12] Kuanyu Zhu, Yuemei Xu, Zhiwei Sun, Yajun Zhang, Weiyang Zhang, Yunji Xu, Junfei Gu, Hao Zhang, Zhiqin Wang, Lijun Liu, Jianhua Zhang, Jianchang Yang. Post-anthesis dry matter production and leaf nitrogen distribution are associated with root-derived cytokinins gradient in rice[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(6): 2106-2122.
[13] Shulin Zhang, Yu Wang, Jinmei Hu, Xinyue Cui, Xiaoru Kang, Wei Zhao, Yuemin Pan. The N-mannosyltransferase MoAlg9 plays important roles in the development and pathogenicity of Magnaporthe oryzae[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(6): 2266-2284.
[14] Tongming Wang, Kai Zhou, Bingxian Yang, Benoit Lefebvre, Guanghua He. OsEXO70L2 is required for large lateral root formation and arbuscular mycorrhiza establishment in rice[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(6): 2035-2045.
[15] Rumeng Wang, Jinsong Luo, Jian Zeng, Yingying Xiong, Tianchu Shu, Dawei He, Zhongsong Liu, Zhenhua Zhang. BjuB05.GS1.4 promotes nitrogen assimilation and participates in the domestication of shoot nitrogen use efficiency in Brassica juncea[J]. >Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2025, 24(5): 1800-1812.
No Suggested Reading articles found!